Samstag, 6. August 2016

NY-Times By the Book Tag



This tag was created by Marie Berg over on her YouTube channel. Check out the original video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRpxSlKNndo
This is just a fun little Tag to discuss a few books, what I am currently reading, how I organize my books etc. I hope you guys like it! :)


1. What book is on your nightstand now?
Right now it’s Prince’s Gambit by C.S. Pacat. I usually keep more than one book on my nightstand, since I mostly read two or more book at the same time, but right now it’s just this one.

2. What was the last truly great book that you read?
This is kind of hard to answer. A “truly great book” has to be something special, something I loved through and through, and had no problems with whatsoever. But when I thought about this question, there was one book in particular that always just came to my mind: Captive Prince by C.S. Pacat. This book/series did something with me. I find myself thinking about these characters at completely random times during the day, and that is what really convinced me that this was a truly awesome book! As I am reading the second book right now, I am just falling in love with this series, the world, and especially the characters more and more. (But seriously, can I get my own Damen? Please?) 
Captive Prince Review:  HERE

3. If you could meet any writer – dead or alive – who would it be? And what would you want to know?
This is so hard for me to answer, as I have so many favorite authors (seriously, like thousands), but I think I would love to meet Becky Albertalli one time. I wouldn’t necessarily ask her a lot of things, but just chat about her book, (and her upcoming book to see if I can get anything out of her) and of course about our shared love for Oreos!
(rather old) Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda Review: HERE

4. What books might we be surprised to find on your shelves?
I am usually not a big New Adult reader, so it might surprise people that I actually have the Fallen too far series by Abbi Glines on my shelf. This is the only NA series I have, and I guess that will stay that way for sometime now, as I am more of a fantasy reader.

5. How do you organize your personal library?
I do not really have a system for organizing my books, but I like to keep similar genres together. Dystopian ties into Fantasy, which ties into Fairytale-Retellings and so on.
 
6. What book have you always meant to read and haven’t gotten around to yet? Anything you feel embarrassed never to have read?
Shame on me, I have not read the whole Harry Potter series. *Tomatoes get thrown onto the stage* BUT WAIT LET ME EXPLAIN! I meant to read this series for ages, and I actually wanted to finish it this May, but then University got in my way, and I didn’t have the time or the energy to finish it. However, now that I have holidays, I shall conquer the last three books that are remaining! I promise!

7. Disappointing, overrated, just not good: what book did you feel you were supposed to like but didn’t? Do you remember the last book you put down without finishing?
I actually never DNF books, because I think that I am only able to fully judge a book when I completely finished it. The last book I didn’t really LOVE was A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas. I went into this book FULLY expecting to love it (since one of my best friends is a huge fan of the series, and we usually have the same reading taste), but I guess the writing and the characters just weren’t for me, sadly.
A Court of Thorns and Roses Review: HERE

8. What kinds of stories are you drawn to? Any you stay clear of?
Fantasy is my favorite genre, and thus I guess I would always feel more drawn to fantasy stories. I love to get sucked into a completely fictional world, and just get lost in it. Anything where the main character has a supernatural power, or anything set in a medieval setting (or both combined) is the best thing in the world for me! However, I also do like contemporary stories once in a while. Technically you can say that I read everything in the YA genre. What I never reach for though, are Thrillers and Detective stories. I don’t know why, I am just not interested in those kinds of genres. And another one I hardly reach for, as I mentioned earlier, is the NA genre.

9. If you could require the president to read one book, what would it be?
I have to be honest with you: I do not really read a lot of non-fiction books, or classics, which I think would fit a president best. One book I would make everyone read however, also the president, would be More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera. And I will not stop until everyone on this planet has read this book!
(Rather old) More Happy Than Not Review: HERE

10. What do you plan to read next?
I have huge reading plans for August actually, but first I have to finish the Captive Prince series, so I will continue with Kings Rising, after I’ve finished Prince’s Gambit, probably.


I had so much fun doing this tag, and I really hope you guys enjoyed reading this post! What book is currently on your nightstand?
See you guys next time!

Mittwoch, 3. August 2016

Review: Captive Prince by C.S. Pacat




“It was like watching a man smile as he surrendered himself to drown in deep water.”

“A golden prince was easy to love if you did not have to watch him picking wings off flies.”


Plot:

Damen is a warrior hero to his people, and the truthful heir to the throne of Akielos, but when his half brother seizes power, Damen is captured, stripped of his identity and sent to serve the prince of an enemy nation as a pleasure slave.
Beautiful, manipulative and deadly, his new master Prince Laurent epitomizes the worst of the court at Vere. But in the lethal political web of the Veretian court, nothing is as it seems, and when Damen finds himself caught up in a play for the throne, he must work together with Laurent to survive and save his country.
For Damen, there is just one rule: never, ever reveal his true identity. Because the one man Damen needs is the one man who has more reason to hate him than anyone else...


My opinion:

I SHIP THESE TWO SO MUCH. I AM ALL THE SHIPS. ALL OF THEM.

As you may be able to tell from the rating, I liked this book. A lot. I was expecting to like it going into it, despite all the controversy, and I was not disappointed to say the least.

I understand why people don't like this book, and why they think it's very problematic. I agree, some scenes really ARE problematic. People say this book glorifies rape and sex slavery, and thus they can't enjoy a book like that. However, I didn't see it that way. There is a reason why the Prince of the kingdom these things take place in doesn't participate in any of it. Do you think that's because he approves of it? Probably not. He rejects it, and because he is not the one who is ruling yet, he can't do a lot of other things about it, other than just not participating. Same with the main character Damen. He despises it, says numerous times how he is disgusted by some of these practices. These scenes were there not to glorify this, it was just part of the world building. Those scenes were written in order to understand the world they live in and the system they have. So, it wasn't that disturbing for me. Again, I do not say that things should be this way, not at all. But i understand and accept why the author did it.

Now that that's out of the way, let's talk about the characters. I loved them, although there are like 0 women in the story. I have never read anything quite like this before, and it was definitely interesting to explore. Laurent is an interesting character and I really can't wait to see how he will develop. All the other characters were, even though the book was just 240 pages long, well described and developed, which I loved. But what I loved the most was definitely the chemistry between Laurent and Damen (OTP – status right there). Laurent, the dismissive, passive Prince, and Damen, the one who gets thrown into this whole new world and tries to cope with everything surrounding him. If that doesn’t seem like a great match, I don’t know what does. I hope all my feels will somehow get satisfied in the next books though.
Furthermore, I liked the story and how the plot unfolded in the last few pages, and I am definitely interested to see where this story will go.
What more can I say, other than I really like this book.

My version also had an extra short story at the end called "The Training of Erasmus", so I will talk a little bit about this story too.
It tells the story of Erasmus who is trained to be a slave in Damen’s kingdom, but then gets shipped to Vere.
This story again gives us insight on how this whole system works, and it again was (in my opinion) important for the overall world building and plot. You understand that whole slave-system better when reading the story, which is important. Erasmus is a great character and I really loved seeing how he came to be in Vere in the first place. In fact, I think this should always be part oft he main book, as it answers some more questions concerning the kingdom they live in.


Rating:

4,5/5 (and a lot of hope for the next two books)